The person Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner wanted as his chief deputy withdrew from consideration, dealing a setback to the understaffed agency as it struggles to address the worst financial crisis in decades.

Annette Nazareth, a former senior staffer and commissioner with the Securities and Exchange Commission, made “a personal decision” to withdraw from the process, according to a person familiar with her decision.

The decision followed more than a month of intense scrutiny of her taxes and multiple interviews. No tax problems or other issues arose during Nazareth’s vetting, said the person, who requested anonymity because Geithner’s choice of Nazareth was never announced officially.

Though popular in policy circles, Nazareth has drawn criticism for her role in creating what some considered to be lax oversight of the banking industry.

Nazareth, 53, a partner at the law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell, could not be reached for comment.

Chu: Nuclear waste not on way to Yucca site

For two decades, a ridge of volcanic rock 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas known as Yucca Mountain has been the sole focus of government plans to store highly radioactive nuclear waste. Not anymore.

Despite the $13.5 billion that has been spent on the project, the Obama administration says it’s going in a different direction.

It slashed funding for Yucca Mountain in its recently announced budget.

Thursday, Energy Secretary Steven Chu told a Senate hearing that the Yucca Mountain site no longer was viewed as an option for storing reactor waste, brushing aside criticism from several Republican lawmakers.

Chu said the Obama administration believes the nearly 60,000 tons of used reactor fuel can remain at nuclear power plants while a new, comprehensive plan for waste disposal is developed.

california

Ex-CEO of KB Home charged in backdating

A federal grand jury Thursday returned an indictment charging the former chairman and chief executive of KB Home with multiple counts of fraud and other crimes related to a stock option backdating scheme that authorities say bilked the homebuilder’s shareholders out of millions of dollars.

The 20-count indictment charges Bruce Karatz with 15 counts of mail, wire and securities fraud, four counts of making false statements in reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and one count of lying to the company’s accountants, according to the U.S. attorney for the Central District of California.

OHIO

Five killed, others injured in Cleveland shooting

Police were searching for a suspect after five people were killed and others wounded in a shooting on Cleveland’s west side.

Police SWAT, vice and gang units and a police helicopter swarmed on the two-family home after the Thursday night shootings.

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